Explainer: Why US is deploying B-52 bombers in Middle East
Old, huge and lumbering but still packing a powerful punch, several Boeing B-52 Stratofortress heavy bomber aircraft arrived in the Middle East on Saturday as a measure of deterrence in response to escalating tensions between Israel, a key United States ally, and Iran. The aircraft is capable of flying long distances and launching a wide array of munitions while being cost effective to operate.
Often referred to as the “Big Ugly Fat Fellow”, these are among the oldest and largest active-duty combat aircraft, having seen service across the globe over the past 70 years and still expected to fly for another three decades or so.
“B-52 Stratofortress strategic bombers from Minot Air Force Base’s 5th Bomb Wing arrived in the US Central Command area of responsibility,” the Command said in a post on X on November 3.
Though the destination of the bombers was not disclosed, the United States has over half a dozen full-fledged air bases in Kuwait, Qatar, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates that can host them. The US Central Command covers the Middle East, Central Asian Republics, Egypt, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
“Should Iran, its partners, or its proxies use this moment to target American personnel or interests in the region, the United States will take every measure necessary to defend our people,” a Pentagon spokesperson said.
The B-52 primarily provides the United States with immediate nuclear and conventional global strike capability. Due to its high mission-capable rate, large payload, long range, persistence and ability to employ both nuclear and conventional precision standoff weapons, the B-52 continues to be a critical contributor to the US national security strategy, according to the aircraft’s manufacturer.
First flown in 1952, the aircraft began entering USAF service in 1955, with a total of 744 aircraft of different variants being produced. The last airframe was rolled out in 1962.
At present, about 75 such aircraft are said to be in service, primarily based at Minot in North Dakota and Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana with the 2nd Bomb Wing and 307th Bomb Wing as part of the Air Force Global Strike Command.
Powered by eight jet engines – an unusually high number — B-52s can carry 32,000 kg of ordnance including bombs, rockets, missiles and precision guided weapons as well as air-launched cruise missiles and miniature air launched decoys. Though sub-sonic with a maximum speed of Mach 0.86, these can fly up to 50,000 feet and have a range of 14,200 km without aerial refueling.
Its massive 185-foot wingspan, two feet more than the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy, is too wide to allow traditional take-off or landing procedures and a special landing gear had to be developed by Boeing. Initially it also faced several design faults and technical glitches.
In its extensive operational history beginning with the Cold War, the B-52s have been flown in combat missions over many parts of the Eastern Hemisphere, besides being involved in aero-space research projects.
Throughout the Cold War, the B-52s, along with other strategic bombers conducted air patrols, loitering at high altitudes near the borders of the erstwhile Soviet Union to provide rapid first strike or retaliation capability in case of a nuclear war. Over the years, several modifications and changes in tactics were carried out to meet evolving operational scenarios and emerging threats.
From 1964 to 1972, B-52s, flying from bases on Guam and Okinawa islands in the Pacific and in Thailand, carried out intense bombing campaigns over North and South Vietnam, where many were shot down or suffered heavy damage.
In 1991, during the first Persian Gulf War, B-52s were flown from Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean as well as from continental United States to strike targets in Iraq as part of Operation Desert Storm. They were also used during the Bosnian conflict and the Kosovo conflict in the 1990s, the Afghanistan campaign from 2001 – 2014, and thereafter in the air strikes against the Islamic State in Iraq, Syria, Yeman and Levant.
On November 12, 2015, the B-52 began Freedom of Navigation operations in the South China Sea in response to Chinese man-made islands in the region and refused to recognise Chinese jurisdiction in that area. In January, the following year, a B-52 flew over South Korea along with South Korean and other US fighters after North Korea claimed to have tested a hydrogen bomb.
In 2022, the US Air Force used a B-52 as a platform to test a Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept missile.
Available data shows that the B-52 had the highest mission capable rate of the three types of heavy bombers operated by the USAF, the other two being the B-1B and the B-2 Stealth bomber. The B-52's per hour flight cost is US$ 72,000 compared to the B-2's cost of US$ 135,000 per hour.
Seventy-two years after its first flight, the B-52 remains a key part of the air component of the US Nuclear Triad because of its capability and relatively low operating costs, and as per reports could well carry on till 2060.
Though its basic design has remained the same, it has undergone upgrades in terms of its avionics and engines and has also been adapted for maritime strikes through the development of tactics and the employment of anti-ship missiles and mines.
